Scratch any cinephile, and you'll see traces of the 1955 French crime thriller, Rififi. A jewelry store heist is the star of the film. The one-sheet shows Jean Servais doing his best Bogie impression, dressed in a trench coat, gloves, and a fedora at a mean slant. The caper outlined in the film has reportedly been copied by actual criminals through the years. To paraphrase Pablo Picasso, steal from the best. Or maybe that was Igor Stravinsky. Or T.S. Eliot. Whoever it was, thanks for the inspiration.
Jules Dassin got the Best Director award at Cannes for his work on Rififi. Did he make a splash under the Palme d'Or? Word has it, he stole the show. Not bad for a guy who was blacklisted in the bad ol' HUAC days, huh? I guess Republicans were scared of talent back then. Oh, they still are today.
Let's pop the cork on a Champagne for the big French winner. Nicolas Feuillatte's Palmes d'Or Brut will run a man a couple of Benjamins, unless you know a guy. Plus, the neat studded bottle reminds me of the Hellraiser guy.
Michael Mann's big screen debut was Thief, from 1981. Mann wrote and directed it. This heist film is about a safecracker, so don't munch on your popcorn while he's trying to hear the clicks. The safecracker gets swindled by his fence. Man, you can't trust anybody in a crime film.
The movie stars James Caan, Tuesday Weld, Jim Belushi, Dennis Farina, and Willie Nelson. Huh? Yes, that's what it says here. Mamas don't let your babies grow up to be safecrackers. They say clothes make the man. In this case, a bullet proof vest was a pretty good idea.
Cooper and Thief Winery is located a bit off the wine trail, in Ripon, California. That's in the lovely Central Valley, between Modesto and Stockton, if you'd like to set your GPS. I like to think the winery was named after a barrel maker and a guy who steals barrels, but I doubt that's the case. At any rate, their wines are all aged in bourbon and brandy barrels for that little extra oomph we look for in Ripon grapes.
The Asphalt Jungle is a 1950 crime noir, one that kept alive the golden age of the genre. John Huston directed, so, okay. That's good. Also contributing some dark goodness are Sterling Hayden, Louis Calhern, Jean Hagen, James Whitmore, Sam Jaffe, John McIntire, and Marilyn Monroe, in one of her earliest roles. They're so good, maybe they'll all get to share a prison cell. Well, except for Monroe and Hagen. Maybe they'll get cast in a Women Behind Bars flick.
Hayden plays an ex con who masterminds the whole gig, and he seems born to play that kind of role. That, and Brigadier General Jack D. Ripper, of course. But that's a story for another trio of films.
The story follows a jewel heist gone wrong. Is there another way for a jewel heist to go? Can't have noir without something going wrong. Spoiler alert: not everyone makes it to the comfy confines of the Hotel Graybar.
There was a heist of sorts at San Diego County's Hatfield Creek Vineyards in Ramona. The crooks made off with only about $15,000 worth of goods, and no safecracker was needed. The winery's website seems more geared toward nibbles and the cornhole game that's likely to be going on when you visit. But, as one satisfied customer commented: if you're on the way to Julian, you might as well stop in and have a glass of wine. If you really want to make it rain, try the Rainmaker Rosé.
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